DM

A blog I wrote: @dan.morrison_6393/why-is-everyone-talking-about-cognitive-load-theory-5fa38b208b64" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@dan.morrison_…

I will never get tired of watching old Milton Friedman videos.

@JDaviesPhD Learnt how to box, although I recommend any martial art: great for fitness, self-esteem, learning, a new identity in part.

During a very dark period, what was the best thing you ever did for your mental health?

This video on "criticism" will change your life:

“It’s so good… It’s wisdom.” Reflecting on his guest edit and leaving In Our Time after almost 30 years, Melvyn Bragg gives an emotional reading of Thomas Hardy's 'She, To Him'.

Good behaviour precedes high quality learning environments. Always.

Abigail Shrier: "The number one symptom of depression is rumination, pathologically obsessing over your pain. Getting out of your house and accomplishing anything is good for you, sitting around, talking and thinking about your problems is a bad habit."

High text; Low Tech

I think this is true, and important. We rush, as non clinicians, to diagnose the complexity of a human’s personality as a pathology of mental health that few of us are trained to recognise. Because we burn to understand the causes of such behaviours. But inventing reasons doesn’t help us understand them. We are no wiser. Descriptors like ‘kind’ ‘brave’ ‘shy’ are perfectly serviceable indicators of patterns of behaviour we recognise, without assuming omniscience.

The most common criticism of removal is ‘what about SEND?’ And the answer is: 1. Yes, what about the children with SEND who cannot bear chaotic behaviour in others? Children with ADHD, ASD, anxiety disorders etc disproportionately need calm classrooms. Don’t they matter? 2. You make reasonable adjustments dependent on specific accommodations. For example: a child with Tourette’s syndrome would usually not be removed for swearing, unless it was obviously deliberate and intentional. 3. In the removal destination, you can assess if any support etc is needed. This is incredibly hard in a busy classroom. 4. The vast majority of children sent out of class are not doing so because of some inexorable mental distress or neurological difficulty, but because of perfectly normal human behaviours of self amusement, peer bonding, rudeness, unwillingness to try hard etc. 5. Even if a child has a form of SEND this does not mean they are immune to boundaries and consequences. All children need these to some level. If we don’t give them this, we habituate them into low effort and poor conduct, further entrenching their disadvantage. 6. All adjustments need to be *reasonable*. We can’t jettison the rights and needs of a classroom because one kid wants to abuse and disrupt the needs of others.

"Teaching isolated facts is almost aways a waste of time; the unit of learning should be the link, because retrieval speed comes from connectivity, not accumulation." Oh, to have @C_Hendrick's gift of sublime summary.

Not complicated

@Shabnamagram youtu.be/IdTMDpizis8?si…

Went for an interview as AHT. Didn’t get it. Licking some very deep wounds now.

There's a nice scenario in this one, and I think there are at least 16 points and questions for discussion that it raises. How many can you spot?

Here’s a blog which captures some of this: learningspy.co.uk/featured/why-b…

The best teachers I've seen don't use a wide range of activities. They do a few things, and they do them well. They hone them, practise them, and know exactly when each one should be used and why. The students become habituated to them, and learning goes through the roof.

@stoneman_claire ‘Sometimes I think that’s the best thing to hope for when you’re eulogized: after all the words and recitations and resumes are read, to just say somebody was a good man.’ - Obama

My dad would have been 88 today. He was a good man. I loved him very much

"Visiting as many schools as we have over the years, one thing that strikes us is how closely teachers’ attitudes to their work & the behaviour of pupils in school are correlated. It is incredibly rare to find happy teachers in schools where pupils’ behaviour is poor..." 1/2